Gold Medal Victory for Primero Mining

Under the reliably capable leadership of founding CEO Joe Conway, Primero Mining (NYSE: PPP) is rapidly constructing a legacy of golden achievements likely to be recalled as one of the truly great performances of its time.

Scoring a watershed victory in its bid to reconfigure the way that Mexico's tax authority treats the portion of Primero's silver production delivered to stream holder Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) , Primero is now free to celebrate further increases in the price of silver alongside this continuing and powerful secular bull market in gold.

Also likely to be celebrating this latest victory for Primero -- aside from 32% stakeholder Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) -- are those of my fellow Fools who may have latched onto this story when I called Primero "The Greatest Gold Stock in the World" just over a year ago when the stock traded for $2.39 per share. Rocketing higher by more than 40% Friday morning after news broke of this game-changing positive tax ruling, the shares have already delivered an unforgettable three-bagger run over the period. As the following chart makes clear, Primero's outperformance of relevant benchmarks like the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) or the gold bullion proxy SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) has been truly spectacular.

The updated outlook for Primero MiningFollowing a move of this magnitude, an updated and refreshed outlook for the stock going forward is required. My recent decision to lock in a portion of my gains in Primero shares prior to this latest megasurge is now looking a touch premature, but I value the underlying discipline of locking in gains more than I do any notion of doing so with flawless timing. I think it's safe to say that my selection of Primero as my No. 1 gold pick for 2012 has already enjoyed a favorable run, and yet the stock remains a core long-term holding of mine even after booking gains.

I continue to perceive substantial room for further value creation as the company approaches a likely expansion of the San Dimas mine, and continues all the while to build its mineral inventory through the systematic exploration of this legendary gold and silver vein system. Additionally, Primero's newfound market heft -- combined with a healthy cash position of $126 million at last tally -- works in support of Conway's long-standing intention to grow this company through strategic acquisitions while concurrently maximizing value from the flagship mine.

While intentionally sidestepping any effort to predict the near-term trajectory following a move of this scale and duration, my long-term outlook remains solidly bullish from here. Accordingly, I will maintain my bullish CAPScall on the stock as a top pick, and I encourage readers to track my coverage by bookmarking my article list or following me on Twitter. I suspect that some of my other core gold holdings may double faster from this juncture, but ultimately I expect to hold my remaining stake in Primero Mining for a long-term target of at least $14 per share.

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Fool contributorChristopher Barkercan be foundblogging activelyand acting Foolishly within the CAPS community under the usernameTMFSinchiruna. Hetweets. He owns shares of Goldcorp, Primero Mining, and Silver Wheaton. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

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Congrats to Primero and to all the fools who invested in PPP. I sold out a few weeks ago at a pretty good profit (I didn't keep any), but I am so happy for all who held on, so they could have a day like today in their portfolios!!!

Chris, as a relatively new investor with a family, I am thrilled with this sort of investment - who wouldn't be? My dad wisely encouraged me to have some allocation of physical gold and silver and this got me to consider them as stocks also. I owe you (and my dad) a huge debt of gratitude for your hard work and vision. Thanks and keep em coming!

Hooray! My biggest holding - thanks Sinch! I followed your advice into this, well before it got all the way down to 2.39, but still a double at this point. GoldCorp is probably happy too, but might be wishing they had held that big chunk of shares just two more weeks. And gaminsky - how kind and gracious you are, best of luck.

I told someone today: "I love Christopher Barker". Maybe love is too strong a word; respect, admire, listen carefully to.... That's probably closer. I built a diversified portfolio of gold and silver holdings, but Primero was my largest miner thanks to Sinch. I decided not to sell even a small amount because Sinch still thought it had room to run. I made significant money today. Sinch, if you are ever near Texas, call me and I will buy you a great dinner with wine at the place of your choosing.

Morning Chris, want to echo the words of all the other PM investors here and send a heartfelf thanks from Africa for all you do here. Bought some Primeiro shares for my 2 sons and it is doing wonders for getting them into investing. All the best to you, and Skypilot, Speedy, SN and all the other guys and girls whose thoughts I look forward to.

Ok, I've never commented on Motley Fool before, but yesterday was too amazing to be ignored. When I first looked at my portfolio yesterday, the numbers made no sense, there were just too many digits.

Thank you Chris Barker. I started buying PPP at $3.66 and kept buying all the way down to $2.54.It's now my 4th largest holding out of 56 positions. My only regret is that it's in a taxable account. Oh well. That's a nice problem to have.

While I am thrilled by the gains that my fellow Fools have enjoyed with PPP, hearing from you that the experience has helped to spark an interest in investing on the part of your sons is truly an inspirational outcome! Thank you for letting me know, and my very best wishes to both you and your sons.

Am so pleased with your research; I was looking for more exposure to gold in my portfolio in the beginning of this year and based on your rec bought a lot of shares at 2.86.Sold 1/3 yesterday at 7.70 after it blew past my limit order at 5.90. Yay!

Am still holding 2/3. Also is now my largest holding.Looking forward to your ongoing coverage and thoughts.

I hope this will be just the first of many conversations you'll take part in here, as the community aspect is a big part of what sets The Motley Fool apart.

And to you all... Please remember to congratulate yourselves first and foremost! You all maintained conviction in your positions through challenging developments like the resource re-modeling process and stared down some tough-looking weakness in the stock. And you did so all in the midst of a gut-wrenching 15-month correction for the pm sector at large. I think you are each quintessentially Foolish investors, and I am confident of your continued success.

"You all maintained conviction in your positions through challenging developments..."

It's always darkest before the dawn. Congrats Sinch, this was well-deserved. Right now at 25 I'm in a position to both pay off my student loans completely, quite a large sum... and I really don't think it would have been possible without your help.

In addition to Chris Marchese (speedybure), you and Skypilot were both instrumental in my finally taking a long-overdue position in Sandstorm. I initiated core positions in both Sandstorms only a short time ago, and I've already locked in some substantial gains while leaving major chunks in place for the long haul. My thanks to all 3 of you!

Thank you TMF Sinchiruna for sharing your excellent research with this community. PPP is another strong winner for me, joining SLW and GPL as a multibagger. If you visit Atlanta, I'd love to buy you dinner.

(NYSE MKT: BRD; TSX: BRD) – Brigus Gold Corp. (“Brigus” or the “Company”) produced 19,526 gold ounces in the third quarter of 2012 – an increase of 7 percent over second quarter production of 18,254 ounces.

The Company is also pleased to announce that it has secured $30 million in debt financing. $26.4 million of the debt proceeds will be used to repurchase 4 percent of the existing 12 percent goldstream with Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (“Sandstorm”).